Flooring materials used for buildings, such as houses, apartments, offices, and stores, generally include petroleum resins such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Such flooring materials are manufactured by extrusion or calendering of PVC resins. However, since PVC resins are derived from petroleum, a difficulty may occur in terms of supply of raw materials in the future due to the exhaustion of petroleum resources.
Further, PVC flooring materials generally generate a large amount of toxic substances in use or when discarded in view of environmental considerations.